1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the art of firearms, and more specifically, to an adapter for an automatic rifle's magazine well that increases firing rate, shooting accuracy, and accommodates the use of a multi-rifle (“universal”) ammunition magazine.
2. Description of Related Art
The Avtomat Kalishnikova, commonly known as the “AK-47” or “Kalishnikov.” is the world's most ubiquitous assault rifle. Indeed, since its development and deployment as a Soviet Armed Forces rifle in 1947, the AK-47 (and its variants) has been widely embraced due to their durability, low production cost, and ease of use. In fact, more AK-type rifles have been manufactured since 1947 than all other assault rifles combined. Of the estimated 500 million firearms in existence worldwide, approximately 100 million belong to the Kalishnikov family, with the AK-47 accounting for fully three-quarters of that total.
Originally designed for ease of operation and repair by glove-wearing Soviet soldiers in arctic conditions, the firearm's breathtaking simplicity makes it a common choice of both armed and special forces and individual gun owners and enthusiasts alike. Although the AK-47 is generally regarded as less accurate, less safe, and of limited shooting range in comparison to similarly calibrated firearms, its ease of operation, robustness to mistreatment, and negligible failure rate have firmly entrenched the weapon as the world's most popular small arms device.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the AK-47 (shown as a type-2 variation of the first Soviet model) is a selective-fire, gas operated 7.62×39 mm assault rifle that, in its original formulations, is easily recognizable by its wooden furniture consisting of a wood covered buttstock 2, pistol grip 4, and forend 6. However, AK-style firearms have evolved over time to implement an extensive number of component changes and alterations, with modifications to, at least, the receiver, buttstock, ammunition caliber, pistol grip, sights, and materials. These changes are reflected in a wide variety of AK-47 variants which include, but are not limited to, firearms going by the common names of AK-47 (1948-51 models), AK-47 (1952 model), AKS, RPK, AKM, AKMS, AK-74 series (5.45 v 39 mm), AK-101/AK-102 series, AK-103/AK-104 series, AK-107/AK-108 series, AK-200 series, Saiga semi-automatic rifle and shotgun, and KSK shotgun. Additionally, military AK-type variants are produced in countries across the globe, from the Finnish RK 62, to the Israeli IMI Galil, to the Hungarian AK-55, to the Chinese AK-56 and the Serbian M92 (with numerous other nations, and their version, not listed but contemplated in referencing the gun). As would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art, the AK-47 and all variants are intended to be covered when using the phrases AK-47, AK-type. AK-style, and/or AK-47 variants.
As is well known to a person of ordinary skill in the art, to fire an AK-47, or one of its variants, the operator inserts a magazine 8 loaded with bullets/cartridges/rounds 34 into the magazine well 10 of the receiver 12, moves the selector lever 66 to the lowest position, pulls back and releases the charging handle, aims, and then pulls the trigger 20. As each bullet travels through the barrel 50, a portion of the gases expanding behind it is diverted into the gas tube above the barrel 50, where it impacts the gas piston. The piston, in turn, is driven backward, pushing the bolt carrier, which causes the bolt 32 to move backwards, ejecting the spent round, and chambering a new round when the recoil spring pushes it back. Depending on the model being used and the selector setting, the firearm fires only once (semi-automatic), requiring the trigger to be released and depressed again for the next shot. With the selector in the middle position (full-automatic), however, the rifle continues to fire, automatically cycling fresh rounds into the chamber 36, until the magazine is exhausted or pressure is released from the trigger 20. The phrase “semi-automatic rifle” is hereinafter used to refer to firearms having both semi-automatic and fully automatic capabilities.
While the AK-47 and variants are generally regarded as providing a high rate of fire, the process of reloading an AK-47 has certain disadvantages that provide for less than optimal reload time and positioning. Specifically, to reload the AK-47 after a magazine is emptied of bullets, the firearm must be lowered from the firing position at the shoulder of the user in order to obtain sufficient leverage to remove the emptied magazine, while properly seating a new magazine 8 requires a combination of leverage and dexterity that can be unnecessarily time-consuming.
FIG. 2 is a prior art partial cross-section diagram of an AK-47, and traditional AK-47 ammunition magazine 8, that—without belaboring the various firearm componentry, which are well known in the art—demonstrates generally how an ammunition magazine of the prior art is inserted, secured, and removed from the firearm during the reload process. The AK-47, 1, has a receiver 12 having a bottom wall 14 from the opposite sides of which a pair of side walls 16a, 16b extend upwardly towards the gas tube 18. The magazine well 10 is a rectangular opening in the bottom wall 14 of the receiver 12 for capturing an ammunition magazine 8 at a height sufficient to permit bolt 32 to strip a cartridge 34 (also referred to as a round or bullet) from the magazine 8 and push the cartridge 34 into firing chamber 36 in barrel 50. A front trunion 40 is affixed within the front of the receiver 12 for securing the barrel 50 to the receiver 12, and has a tab engaging rib 42 extending inwardly into the receiver's magazine well 10. The tab engaging rib 42 works in conjunction with a spring-biased magazine latch 54, as is well known in the art, to secure a standard tabbed ammunition magazine 8 within the magazine well 10 and receiver 12.
The standard tabbed ammunition magazine 8 is designed to store thirty cartridges in stacked double rows. As generally shown in FIG. 3, the magazine 8 is of a size designed to fit securely within the magazine well 10, and consists of an elongated and curved housing 80 having a substantially closed bottom end (BE) and a substantially open top end (TE) and two arcuate side walls 82a, 82b connected in opposition by a front wall 84 and a rear wall 86. Front magazine wall 84 has an engagement tab 88, while back magazine wall 86 has a magazine catch 90.
As is well known in the art, the magazine's 8 top end (TE) is inserted into the magazine well 10 by tipping housing 80 forward so that the engagement tab 88 comes into contact with the tab engaging rib 42 of the front trunion 40. The catching of engagement tab 88 on the tab engaging rib 42 acts a pivot point for rotating the tabbed magazine 8 in an upward and rearward direction (a rocker-type motion) towards the receiver 12 until the magazine catch 90 snap catches into place above the magazine latch 54 (as is shown in FIG. 2). The magazine is removed by pressing the magazine latch 54 toward the housing 80, and then swinging magazine 8 forward and in a downward direction out of the magazine well 10. These traditional methods of loading (“pivot seating”) and unloading (“pivot release”) an AK-type firearm with an ammunition magazine are hereinafter referred to as “pivot action.”
As a practical matter, the AK-47 must be removed from even the most skilled and experienced firearm operator's shoulder in order to obtain the necessary leverage to properly seat the engagement tab 88 onto the tab engaging rib 42 and swivel the magazine 8 into the receiver's magazine well 10. This has the disadvantage of forcing the user to temporarily aim the weapon away from the target while the weapon is reloaded, and in combat situations is a dangerously time-consuming process. An AK-type firearm that permitted push-button magazine ejection (also referred to as drop release)—without modifying the firearm's receiver—would dramatically improve reload times and permit the operator to maintain their aim during reload.
Additionally, many firearm enthusiast and collectors own and enjoy shooting various versions of AK-type firearms available on the market—many of which have made slight modifications to the receiver 12 that require use of the weapon only in conjunction with their gun specific ammunition magazines. Gun owners would benefit from an ammunition magazine that when used in conjunction with a magazine well adapter of the present invention—could be interchangeably used amongst various AK-type firearms.
Therefore, what is needed is an AK-type firearm magazine well adapter, associated magazines, and adaptor kits, that overcome one or more deficiencies in the prior art.